Scottish Executive

Anti-Social Behaviour

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed penalty notices for anti-social behaviour have been issued in each local authority area.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill, published on 30 October, includes provision to give police powers to issue a fixed penalty notice for a range of antisocial offences.

  Fixed penalty notices are currently available for litter and, since 22 October 2003, dog fouling offences. However, information is not held centrally on numbers of notices issued for these offences.

Autism

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific provision for children with autism will be made as a result of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill.

Peter Peacock: The proposals in the bill aim to modernise and strengthen the system for supporting all children’s learning needs. Education authorities will have a duty to identify and address the needs of children and young people who require additional support, including those with autism.

Child Poverty

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional measures it will now take to end child poverty in Scotland.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive is committed to tackling child poverty and is making progress in doing so.

  The best route out of poverty is through work. The Executive will continue to invest in policies that support employment opportunity for all and increase household income through programmes like education maintenance allowances, which will be rolled out nationally from 2004-05, Modern Apprenticeships and Training for Work.

  I recently announced the allocations of the £20 million Working for Families Fund, which will help those in the most disadvantaged areas by providing affordable, flexible child care to enable parents to enter training or employment.

  There are other examples of Executive initiatives which help tackle child poverty. For example, funding for Sure Start Scotland, which supports vulnerable children and families throughout Scotland, has been significantly increased and will rise to £50 million in 2006.

Children's Hearings

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why 54,704 of the 68,380 cases referred to the Children's Hearing system from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 were withdrawn, as referred to in The Annual Report of the Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals .

Euan Robson: The 54,704 cases to which the member refers were not actually withdrawn. In these cases the children’s reporter decided that compulsory measures were not needed either because voluntary measures were in place or the child was on supervision, or the child was referred on to the local authority or for voluntary measures, or there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

  Of the 68,380 cases specifically:

  Children’s Reporters referred 13,676 (20%) to a Children’s Hearing;

  9,573 (14%) were already receiving suitable care on supervision;

  7,522 (11%) were referred on to the local authority or police;

  32,822 (48%) were cases where measures had been put in place voluntarily, and

  4,787 (7%) had insufficient evidence to proceed.

Civil Service

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when an announcement will be made on the relocation of VisitScotland.

Mr Frank McAveety: A decision on the future accommodation requirements of VisitScotland has now been reached. Following an extensive option appraisal of the 10 potential areas shortlisted as possible locations for the VisitScotland headquarters office, the majority of VisitScotland posts will move to a new location within the Edinburgh area.

  Ministers are agreed that any other decision would be too disruptive given the major restructuring which has taken place at VisitScotland and the need to maintain the momentum of recovery from the difficulties of 2001.

  However some functions of VisitScotland currently based in Edinburgh will be identified for relocation in due course, following the forthcoming report of the ad hoc ministerial group on tourism. VisitScotland will also work within the job academy arrangements being developed by Edinburgh City Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians for getting people who are economically inactive back into the labour market.

Crown Estate

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32334 by Allan Wilson on 17 December 2002, whether it has made any recent representations to Her Majesty’s Government in respect of any transfer of power to the Parliament with regard to the Crown Estate Commission and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Ms Margaret Curran: No such representations have been made.

Energy

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will introduce energy performance certificates in the owner-occupied housing sector, as required by Article 7 of Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings.

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will introduce energy performance certificates in the private rented housing sector, as required by Article 7 of Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings.

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will introduce energy performance certificates in the social housing sector, as required by Article 7 of Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings.

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will introduce energy performance certificates in the commercial buildings sector, as required by Article 7 of Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: We are liaising with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister implementation group on how best to implement the requirements of Article 7 of the directive. However, we also recognise the need to take account of distinctive Scottish circumstances.

Energy

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what model(s) of energy rating it will use to produce energy certificates in (a) the domestic buildings sector and (b) the commercial buildings sector, as required by Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) implementation group is presently considering energy performance calculation methods. It is possible that the present standard assessment procedure can be modified for the domestic sector. The paper on Methodologies in support of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: The UK approach to implementation for buildings other than dwellings describes the strategy that ODPM, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Executive are pursuing in developing the methodologies required by the directive. It can be found on the Executive’s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/BSD/00018340/page425754724.aspx.

Energy

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that, for all new buildings over 1000 sq m, formal consideration is given to alternative systems of heating, including CHP, district heating, heat pumps and systems based upon renewable energy, as required by Article 5 of Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: We intend that these matters will form part of the first amendment to the new system of functional building standards which is to be introduced in 2005.

Energy

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will implement Article 6 of Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the energy performance of buildings, relating to improving the energy performance of existing buildings over 1000 sq m when they are renovated.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The implementation group set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and on which the Scottish Executive is represented, is presently considering these and other matters associated with the implementation of the directive.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it, or any of its agencies, have taken to persuade Amazon.com to locate its European operations centre in Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: Scottish development international (SDI) is charged with attracting inward investment projects to Scotland. SDI is pursuing a number of major inward investment projects including several in the online services sector. Due to considerations of commercial confidentiality, it is normal procedure neither to confirm nor deny whether talks are under way with any specific company about inward investment location decisions.

  Premature disclosure of company plans for new operations before location decisions are finalised can lead to loss of competitive advantage, and for publicly quoted companies there are often regulatory issues to be considered in advance of making announcements of significant changes to operations.

  However, I can confirm that Amazon is clearly recognised as a major e-business player and has been the subject of selling efforts by SDI and its predecessor body for several years.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the budget of its department dealing with enterprise, and the department’s agencies, was spent on management and administration in each of the last three years and how much will be spent in each of the next three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The percentage of Scottish Enterprise’s budget spent on management and administration was 18.8% in 2000-01, 17.3% in 2001-02 and 30.3% in 2002-03. The increase in 2002-03 was due to the integration of Careers Scotland into the enterprise networks and the costs associated with provision of its services.

  For 2003-04, the estimated expenditure for management and administration is £83 million, as stated in Scottish Enterprise’s operating plan for this year, but excluding the costs of Careers Scotland, which are estimated at £43 million. The figure of £43 million includes expenditure previously classified as programme expenditure, since it is now recognised that Careers Scotland activity is for the most part, staff based.

  For 2004-05 and 2005-06, the administration budget figures are £92 million in each year, as contained in the Scottish Executive publication Draft Budget 2004-05. These figures are provisional until firmed up as part of Scottish Enterprise’s operating plan process for each of the year’s concerned. They again exclude the costs of Careers Scotland. However, budget publications next year will see the estimates for Scottish Enterprise’s administration budget adjusted to include Careers Scotland costs.

  It should also be remembered that in addition to Scottish Enterprise’s administration budget including core and support staff costs for the entire network, it also includes costs of permanent staff employed in delivering business activity.

Europe

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government in respect of each provision of the draft constitution for Europe and what position it took in each such representation.

Mr Andy Kerr: Negotiations in the intergovernmental conference (IGC) were a matter for the UK Government. The Scottish Executive, however, worked closely with the UK Government from the outset of the Convention on the Future of Europe and throughout the IGC to ensure that Scottish interests were taken into account. Scottish Executive ministers and officials raised Scottish interests in writing and at meetings with the UK Government.

  The Scottish Executive in particular sought to ensure that the draft treaty language on the principle of subsidiarity and the role of regional governments was supported throughout the IGC. In addition, in the case of proposals to extend qualified majority voting or to extend competences of the EU, the Scottish Executive worked to ensure that any proposed changes to current procedures were in the best interests of the Scottish people. The Scottish Executive also contributed to the UK white paper on the British Government’s Approach to the IGC.

European Funding

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for the (a) 7% reduction in the budget for regional selective assistance between 2003-04 and 2004-05 and (b) 20% rise in that budget between 2004-05 and 2005-06 and what impact these changes will have on overall levels of business investment.

Lewis Macdonald: Regional selective assistance (RSA) is a demand-led scheme rather than planned expenditure. Demand is generally determined by prevailing economic conditions and by the progress made by individual firms in implementing grant-assisted projects. The RSA budget is based on forecast expenditure arising both from existing commitments and the expected future flow of new investment projects.

Fisheries

Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the draft constitution for Europe in relation to Scotland’s fishing industry.

Allan Wilson: The EU would gain no more power over fisheries if the draft constitution were adopted as it currently stands.

Fuel

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the availability of biodiesel is for motorists in Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: There are two biodiesel suppliers in Scotland, Rix Petroleum Limited and Johnstone Fuels and Lubricants. Between them they have 28 biodiesel outlets in Scotland: in Alyth; Auchtermuchty; Bishopton; Brechin; Broughty Ferry; Castle Douglas; Clydebank; Comrie; Crieff; Dairsie; Dumfries; Dunfermline; Dunning; Fordoun; Forfar; Glenshee; Kinloch Rannoch; Kirkmichael; Motherwell; Newburgh; Newmachar; Newton Stewart; Pitscottie; Rattray; Rutherglen; Spittalfield; Strathmiglo; and Symington.

Fuel

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to encourage the production and use of biodiesel.

Nicol Stephen: We are working closely with the UK Government and the developing biofuels sector to encourage the production and use of biofuels. In particular, we are currently working with the UK Government on the transposition of the European Commission Directive 2003/30 on the promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport.

Fuel

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any Scotland-based producers of biodiesel.

Nicol Stephen: There are a number of small biodiesel plants in Scotland, but details are not held centrally.

Fuel

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to make representations to Her Majesty’s Government to gain a reduction in fuel tax for carbon neutral fuels such as biodiesel.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including fuel duty.

Homelessness

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made towards achieving its target that no one should have to sleep rough.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive has made great strides towards ending the need to sleep rough. The rough sleeping count for May and October 2003 showed a significant drop in the extent of rough sleeping during that period. Five local authorities had a small shortfall in their direct-access accommodation at the time of the October count. We are working in partnership with these and other local authorities to continue to expand the level of accommodation and support services available.

Justice

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the number of fine defaulters.

Cathy Jamieson: The law already allows for offenders to be given time to pay, for payment by instalments, for deductions from benefits and for civil diligence, as ways of encouraging payment and enforcing payment of fines.

  In addition, the Executive has made supervised attendance orders (SAOs) available to courts across Scotland to deal with fine defaulters. These disposals offer a credible alternative to custody for fine defaulters.

  Two pilots are under development to explore an extension to the use of SAOs. The first will prescribe pilot courts to order an SAO as the appropriate disposal in cases of fine default, effectively removing from the court the option of imposing a custodial sentence. The second will empower certain courts to impose SAOs as a disposal of first instance (i.e. instead of a fine) where the court considers that the offender is unlikely to be able to pay a fine.

  The Review of Summary Justice has considered fines and their enforcement as part of its wider consideration of the operation of the summary criminal justice system.

  We have also asked the Sentencing Commission to examine the basis on which fines are determined.

Justice

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in improving the youth justice system.

Cathy Jamieson: Scotland’s Action Plan on Youth Crime is being implemented by the Executive. Action has been taken on all aspects of the 10-Point Action Plan on Youth Crime, including increased funding and support to youth justice teams, National Standards agreed and annual mapping of services completed.

  I met with council leaders and chief executives on 16 December to agree shared priorities for future progress.

Justice

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce legislation to ensure that the crime of male rape is covered by Scots law.

Cathy Jamieson: The conduct which can be described as "male rape" is already a crime in Scots law. Cases are regularly brought before the courts and are charged as indecent assault and sodomy, such charges emphasising the non-consensual nature of the offence. As with the crime of common law rape of a woman, a case heard in the High Court with a male victim can attract a term of life imprisonment.

Justice

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been for trafficking in human beings in each year for which records are held.

Cathy Jamieson: There is no general statutory or common law offence of trafficking in humans. It was an offence under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 to assist unlawful immigration. Data are currently available for 1989 to 2002; the information for 2002 is provisional. In this period there were three convictions in Scottish courts for offences under section 25.

  Section 25 of the 1971 act was replaced in February 2003 by section 143 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. In addition, section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced a new offence of trafficking for the purposes of prostitution. There have been as yet no convictions under these provisions.

Local Government

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to local authorities regarding job evaluation implementation.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is a matter for each local authority to put in place appropriate staffing arrangements to ensure effective service delivery within the best value framework. The guidance on the duty to make arrangements to secure best value states that "a local authority which secures best value will be able to demonstrate that it ensures that all employees are managed effectively and efficiently, that they know what is expected of them, their performance is regularly assessed and they are assisted in improving." The guidance is available on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk.

Maternity Services

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether there should be a maximum time or distance limit within which people can access consultant-led maternity services.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are numerous variables that can affect travel time, such as transport links, population density, weather and rurality. These factors will affect different parts of Scotland, in different ways, at different times and as such the setting of maximum times and distance is not appropriate.

  The Executive, in line with the recommendations of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services, recognises that it is more important to plan in advance where a woman should deliver. This will take into account previous and current pregnancy, medical history, locally available services, likely outcomes and transport arrangements, including travel time to a specialist unit. This assessment would continue throughout a woman’s labour.

  Improved ante-natal identification of potential abnormalities in a baby and the effective use of the risk criteria means that transfers can be planned and emergency transports minimised.

Maternity Services

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received with regard to Greater Glasgow NHS Board's maternity services review.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Health Department has received a number of letters about NHS Greater Glasgow’s review of maternity services. These have been forwarded to the NHS board so that the views expressed can be formally recorded and considered under the on-going public consultation process.

Maternity Services

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16722 by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 July 2001, what progress has been made in the introduction of neonatal hearing screening in light of research showing that if children are identified as deaf before six months of age they are likely to develop language at the same or similar rate to a hearing child, as referred to in the National Deaf Children’s Society’s Annual Review 2003 Making Dreams Real .

Mr Tom McCabe: The introduction of newborn hearing screening is a commitment in the partnership agreement and is being taken forward in two steps. The first step which involved the establishment of two screening pathfinder sites in Tayside and Lothian NHS boards is in place and screening of newborn babies in these areas began in January and March 2003 respectively. There is also a three-year newborn hearing screening pilot in Highland and Western Isles NHS boards which is due to be completed in March 2004. The remaining boards are in the process of developing business cases and taking forward the arrangements to support the introduction of newborn hearing screening, which is expected to be in place by April 2005. In addition all NHS boards have agreed through their regional planning groups to purchase the same information management system which will ensure easier tracking and monitoring of babies.

Pensions

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will adopt Her Majesty’s Government’s position on part-time workers’ rights to retrospective membership of occupational pension schemes in respect of NHS staff.

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision on whether it will adopt Her Majesty’s Government’s position on part-time workers’ rights to retrospective membership of occupational pension schemes in respect of NHS staff.

Tavish Scott: As you will appreciate, these claims are being litigated in the Employment Tribunal. However, Scottish ministers are considering their position in light of recent developments south of the border. I will confirm the position to you as soon as a final decision has been reached.

Prison Service

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its responsibilities are in respect of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish ministers are responsible for the Scottish Prison Service in accordance with the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 and the Scotland Act 1998. SPS conducts its operations within a policy and resources framework set out in the SPS Framework Document, the text of which is available on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk.

Road Accidents

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vehicle accidents there have been that resulted in (a) injury and (b) fatality on the A77 between Glasgow and Ayr in each of the last 10 years.

Nicol Stephen: The number of vehicle accidents that resulted in injury and fatality on the A77 between Glasgow and Ayr* in each of the last 10 years (up to end December 2002) is as follows.

  

 Year
 Injury
 Fatal


 1993
 58
 3


 1994
 59
 3


 1995
 78
 7


 1996
 56
 6


 1997
 68
 0


 1998
 60
 4


 1999
 67
 0


 2000
 58
 2


 2001
 45
 3


 2002
 48
 5


 Total
 597
 33



  *The A77 from Glasgow to Newton Mearns was detrunked in 1997 following the opening of the M77 in December 1996. The data provided from 1993 to 1996 includes accidents between Glasgow and Ayr. From 1997 to 2002 the data includes accidents on the A77 trunk road between Newton Mearns and Ayr.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to ensure that the working practices and hours of grit lorry drivers comply with all legal requirements and guarantee the safety of the driver and a minimum resting period.

Nicol Stephen: The way in which drivers are organised is a matter for BEAR Scotland Ltd provided all contractual and legal obligations are met. The Scottish Executive Is in regular contact with BEAR Scotland Ltd to ensure safe and efficient winter maintenance of the trunk road network.

  The performance audit group regularly audit operations carried out by the trunk road operators to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the contract. Any concerns would be raised with the operating company.

Rural Transport

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the distribution of money from the Rural Transport Fund has been in each year since 2001-02 and what the indicative allocation figures are for 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Nicol Stephen: Rural Transport Fund monies since 2001-02 have been allocated as follows:

  

 
 Rural Public 
  Passenger Transport Grant
(£ million)
 Rural Community 
  Transport Initiative
(£ million)
 Rural Petrol 
  Stations Grant
(£ million)


 2001-02
 4.3
 0.8
 0.4


 2002-03
 4.7
 0.9
 0.4


 2003-04
 5.1
 1.0
 0.4


 2004-05
 5.8
 1.3
 0.4


 2005-06
 6.1
 1.5
 0.4

Rural Transport

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money, in cash terms, has been available to Scottish Borders Council from the Rural Transport Fund for each year since 1999-2000 and how much will be made available for 2004-05 and any future years for which figures are available.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Borders Council has been allocated the following amounts of grant under the Rural Transport Public Passenger Transport Grant Scheme, which is part of the Rural Transport Fund:

  

 Year
 Amount (£ Million)


 1999-2000
 0.158


 2000-01
 0.167


 2001-02
 0.193


 2002-03
 0.212


 2003-04
 0.230


 2004-05
 0.262


 2005-06
 0.276

Schools

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on multinational companies having access to schools through sponsorship and advertising.

Peter Peacock: We are committed to examining sponsorship and advertising in schools. Our aim is to provide national guidance within which authorities can make sensible local decisions about what is appropriate sponsorship and advertising in their schools.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will publish its annual report for 2002-03.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is due to publish its seventh annual report and accounts on 18 December. The report contains details of SEPA’s achievements and activities during the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003, the agency’s seventh year of operation. Copies of the annual report and accounts have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, (Bib. number 29905).

Scottish Executive Publications

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what groups or individuals it consults prior to publication of information literature for use by the public.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is standard practice within the Scottish Executive to consult interested parties on major policy initiatives and our consultation papers appear on the Executive website. We do not, however, generally seek views on individual documents.

  Using experienced production houses, the Executive makes every effort to ensure that its publications are designed to take full account of their intended readership. Our aim is to make documents as user friendly as possible in terms of style, readability and accessibility. We subscribe to the Plain English Campaign and we try to ensure that, where appropriate, documents are available in a variety of formats, such as large print, braille and audio, and minority languages.

Sport

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote youth football.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Executive has contributed to the independent review of youth football development commissioned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and is currently in discussion with the SFA and  sportscotland on how to take forward the review’s recommendations.

Student Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when its review of higher education will report in respect of any consequences of the proposed introduction of top-up fees in English universities.

Mr Jim Wallace: I expect to receive the report from the Phase 3 Higher Education Review Steering Group by the end of February 2004.

Tourism

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with VisitScotland and the Scottish Borders Tourist Board in respect of boosting tourism in the Borders.

Mr Frank McAveety: Boosting tourism in the Borders is a matter for VisitScotland and the Scottish Borders Tourist Board. They have developed a range of initiatives aimed at increasing the volume and value of tourism to the Borders area. There is clear evidence that tourism in the Borders area has increased as a result of the initiatives and strategies that have been put in place. In 2002 there were 560,000 visits made to the area with a value of £91 million; this compares with 440,000 and £49 million respectively in 1999.